Courtney Announces More Than $900,000 in New Federal Funding to Support COVID-19 Response Efforts in New London and Norwich
NORWICH, CT – Today, Congressman Joe Courtney (CT-02) announced that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has awarded two federal grants totaling $901,174 to the Cities of New London and Norwich through the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. The new funding was authorized by Congress in March through the bipartisan CARES Act (H.R. 748), which provided $5 billion for the CDBG program. The awards come in addition to two federal CDBG awards totaling more than $1 million that New London and Norwich received in April, and will provide funding for continued support of a wide range of activities to bolster infectious disease response in vulnerable communities.
"Eastern Connecticut has shown a lot of grit and smarts in fighting back against COVID-19, and this federal funding will help us continue to keep our communities safe so that we can stay on the path towards overcoming this pandemic," said Congressman Courtney. "The CDBG funding that we authorized on a bipartisan basis back in March is very flexible, and can be put towards a wide range of uses to support some of the people and families in our region who have been hit hardest economically. We haven't outpaced the economic fallout of this pandemic just yet, and our communities will need more funding like this in order to keep the recovery going. The House already voted over 115 days ago to authorize more COVID-19 assistance through critical programs like CDBG, and the Senate needs to come to the table with a serious response to the HEROES Act."
A federal grant of $357,031 will be awarded to the City of New London, and a federal grant of $544,143 will be awarded to the City of Norwich. Both federal grants awards represent flexible funding that can be applied across a wide range of activities to support infectious disease response in low-income and vulnerable communities. Examples of eligible activities range from construction of buildings like testing and rehabilitation facilities; public services like providing testing and diagnosis, and acquisition of equipment and supplies; providing grants or loans to new businesses, or business expansions, to create jobs and manufacture necessary medical supplies; short-term working capital to small businesses to help implement effective social distancing capabilities, like working from home, to promote retention of jobs held by low- and moderate-income persons; and much more. For a quick guide to CDBG Eligible Activities to Support Infectious Disease Response, click here.
On April 2, six days after the House of Representatives voted to pass the CARES Act, Rep. Courtney announced two federal CDBG grants totaling $1,021,294 to the Cities of New London and Norwich for the purpose of aiding the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Click here to read more.
###